With TCU locked in a 6-6 tie with No. 13 Oklahoma State in the bottom of the eighth inning Sunday, true first-year Brayden Taylor stepped to the plate and added another page in what has already been a legendary first year for him in the purple and white.
The West Jordan, Utah native saw a 2-0 fastball he liked and smacked a grand slam 359 feet to right field, leading the Frogs to a weekend sweep of the Cowboys and putting the cherry on top of a successful weekend for TCU Athletics.
Not only did TCU football wrap up their spring season with their first spring game since 2018, but a plethora of other Frog squads competed, picking up eight wins on the weekend.
Baseball
Taylor’s heroics led TCU to victory on Sunday, but the Frogs’ sweep of the Cowboys had been a hard-fought team effort all weekend, as TCU won the first two games by one run each.
Prior to Friday night’s game, the Frogs got a little foreshadowing of how their weekend would go without even knowing it. As he was eating a Ding Dong prior to the start of the first inning, third-year manager Easton Tally related his snack to the way he felt TCU would play, predicting a slew of home runs.
Boy, was Tally right.
The Frogs blasted four homers on Friday night alone, with perhaps the most crucial coming in three-run fashion from first baseman Gene Wood in the 6th inning to give TCU the lead for good.
TCU would need each and every run, holding off a late OSU surge and winning the game 9-8 to take an early series lead.
Things got no less tense on Saturday, as the teams traded blows back-and-forth all afternoon to reach a 7-7 tie in the bottom of the 7th on a two-run shot by designated hitter Hunter Wolfe.
In the bottom of the 9th, with the score still locked at 7, Wolfe would come up big for the Frogs, smoking a ball too hard for the OSU shortstop to handle and scoring catcher Zach Humphreys to win the game.
On Monday, Wolfe was named Big 12 Player of the Week after hitting .500 and collecting 5 RBIs in the series.
Finally, on Sunday, Taylor hit TCU’s 6th dinger of the weekend to destroy all hope for Oklahoma State and hand TCU their third series sweep since the start of conference play.
When Taylor returned to the dugout, he was swarmed by teammates as he put his signature on an item to bring the weekend full circle: a box of Ding Dongs.
Also on Monday, the NCAA ranked TCU at 8th on their national rankings.
Soccer
Following their first loss of the 2020-2021 season last weekend, No. 7 TCU Soccer ended their season on a high note on Saturday night, taking down Notre Dame 2-1 to finish the season at 11-1-1.
Upperclassmen Messiah Bright and Yazmeen Ryan scored in the match, as the Frogs outshot the Fighting Irish 25-11 to control the offensive side of the ball practically all night.
TCU’s weekend was not over there, though.
For the fifth-straight season, the Frogs received a bid to play in the NCAA Tournament, earning the fourth-overall seed. This is the first season ever that TCU has been given a national seed.
Bright was named Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week (first of her career) for her goal against Notre Dame and assist on Ryan’s goal, which would eventually prove to be the game-winner.
The Frogs will begin to play in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on the weekend of April 30 against the winner of New Mexico/Navy, following their first-round bye.
Men’s Golf
Entering a tournament with eight of the top 32 teams in the nation as the 62nd-ranked team, TCU Men’s Golf shocked the nation with a first place finish at the Thunderbird Collegiate in Phoenix, Ariz., this weekend.
After finishing 8th on day one, the Frogs rallied to finish first on the following two days, edging out Arizona State and conference-rival Oklahoma State (No. 3 nationally) by four and five strokes, respectively.
Sophomore Jacob Skov Olesen led the way for TCU, finishing a career-best 11-under 202 to finish 4th overall.
Beach Volleyball
Despite dropping two matches to fourth-ranked and tournament host Florida State, No. 7 TCU Beach Volleyball set two program records at the FSU Invitational this weekend, rounding out their regular season.
The Frogs swept both Southern Miss and Tulane in the tournament, finishing with school records in season win total (23) and season sweeps (10).
Junior Hailey Brockett also etched her own name in the TCU record books, recording her 21st career-ranked win to pass former teammate Avery Arellano (20) for first place.
The Frogs head to Huntsville, Ala., this weekend to compete for a conference title in the CCSA Championships.
Men’s Tennis
With a 4-1 win over No. 21 Texas Tech on Friday night, No. 6 TCU Men’s Tennis clinched a share of the Big 12 regular-season title for the fourth time in six years.
The Frogs dropped their first conference match of the season on Sunday, falling to No. 2 Baylor to share the conference title with both the Bears and Texas.
TCU will begin play as the third seed in the Big 12 Championships on April 24 against sixth seed Oklahoma.
